The prevailing language of Hawai‘i today is English, liberally peppered with Hawaiian
words and phrases. All of a visitor’s requests for services can be understood as
well as answered in English. An elementary understanding of the Hawaiian language
however, is the foundation of appreciating all of Hawaiian culture and your attempts
to correctly pronounce words will show respect to the people who are your hosts.

Hawaiian place names are commonly used, so familiarity will breed less contempt when
traveling. Some words such as aloha, lū‘au and lei, you already knew before you
became a malihini (newcomer); other words such as mahalo (thank-you), you will probably
add to your vocabulary of the ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language) on the first day
of your visit.

Hawaiian belongs to the Polynesian family of languages related closely to Tahitian,
Marquesan and Māori, and more distantly to Fijian, Malagasy and Malay. The first
European to listen to the Hawaiians speak, Captain James Cook, found he was able
to communicate with them thanks to his rudimentary grasp of Tahitian. The Hawaiian
that Cook heard evolved from the language of the Tahitian voyagers who populated
the Hawaiian Islands centuries earlier.

The Hawaiians were rich in unwritten literature that included poems, songs, genealogies
and mythologies. Hawaiian existed in only its oral form until the early 19th century.
Christian missionaries, anxious to have Hawaiians read their teachings, set upon
the daunting task of putting the unwritten language to paper. The Hawaiian language,
in both oral and written forms, continued as the language of general use for the
government, business and social circles for several decades. As their monarchy died,
so did usage of the Hawaiian’s language. Hawaiian is no longer spoken as the mother
tongue except on the privately owned island of Ni‘ihau and in the homes of a few
old Hawaiians. Some local churches hold services in Hawaiian as well.

Recently, Hawaiian is receiving renewed attention by the state government and the
school system. In 1978 Hawaiian was again made an official language by the State
of Hawai‘i, the only state to officially use a Native American language. The government
reestablished schools that teach through Hawaiian in 1987 and the University of Hawai‘i
offers degree programs in Hawaiian language studies.

Listeners to Hawaiian, delight in painting it with such flattering, but vague adjectives
as melodious, soft, fluid, gentle and mellifluous. Gushing metaphorically, Hawaiian
sways like a palm tree in a gentle wind and slips off the tongue like a love song.
There are two unvarnished reasons for Hawaiian sounding this way. First, unlike
English, Hawaiian has no consonant clusters, and every syllable ends with a vowel,
resulting in a high vowel to consonant ratio. Second, Hawaiian has no sibilants
(s-like sounds), an attribute endearing to singers.

The missionaries assigned only twelve letters to the alphabet when they phonetically
rendered the Hawaiian language. The consonants are: h, k, l, m, n, p and w. Five
vowels are used: a, e, i, o and u. The consonants are pronounced as in English,
except for the w, which is often pronounced as a v when it follows an e or an i in
the middle of a word. When w follows an a it can be pronounced as either w or
v, thus you will hear either Hawai‘i or Havai‘i. Hawaiian vowels come in both short
and long duration forms. Long duration vowels are stressed with a bar above the
letter called the kahakō in Hawaiian and macron in English. The vowels are pronounced
as: a as in “father” when stressed and as in “above” when not stressed, e as in “they”
when stressed and as in “let” when not stressed, i as in “marine”, o as in “boat”
and u as in “true.” As well as the kahakō, Hawaiian uses the diacritical mark called
an ‘okina and is represented with ‘ which looks like a backwards apostrophe. The
‘okina indicates a glottal stop and is used as an additional consonant. In English
it would approximate the sound between the vowels in the expression “oh-oh.” Use
of the kahakō and the ‘okina are important to correct pronunciation of the words
in which they appear. Their usage has become more prevalent in recent years; in
older guidebooks and maps they were sometimes omitted.

There’s just one more rule you need to learn. Consonants aren’t, but vowels can
be clustered into diphthongs. A diphthong is created when two vowels join to form
a single sound. The vowels glide together with stress being placed on the first
vowel. In English, examples are toil and euphoria. Examples in Hawaiian are lei
(lay) and heiau (hay-ee-ow). The eight vowel pairs that make up Hawaiian diphthongs
are: ae, ai, ao, au, ei, eu, oi, ou.

Some words are doubled to emphasize their meaning. Wiki means quick, wikiwiki means
very quick. Hawaiian appears formidable when you are attempting to pronounce many
long and similar-looking words. The long words are usually combinations of shorter
words and if you segment the long words into their shorter components, pronunciation
becomes more easily achievable. Several words begin with ka, meaning “the”, which
is attached to the word itself. Therefore Kā‘anapali, which means “the rolling precipices,”
should be broken down to Ka-a-na-pa-li. The name for Hawai‘i’s state fish is so
long it will barely fit on a T-shirt, but when you break down humuhumunukunukuāpua‘a
into humu-humu-nuku-nuku-apu-a-a, it’s not so bad.

Glossary of Hawaiian Words

a‘a rough clinker lava, accepted as the correct geological term

‘ āina land

ali‘i chief, royalty

aloha love, affection, hello, to greet, goodbye

ānuenue rainbow

‘apōpō tomorrow

a‘u swordfish

hale house

hana bay

haole Caucasian, recently come to mean any foreigner.

hapa haole half Caucasian

hau hibiscus tiliaceus

hau‘oli happy

hau‘oli lā hānau happy birthday

heiau ancient terrace or platform for worship

he mea iki you are welcome

hoaloha friend

hono bay

honu sea turtle

hukilau pull-net fishing

hula Hawaiian dance with chants where a story is told with the hands

‘i‘iwi scarlet honeycreeper

imu underground earthen oven used in cooking at a lû‘au

ka the

kā belonging to, of

kahiko ancient, old

kahuna priest, expert

kai sea water, seaward

kālua to bake in an underground oven, kâlua pig is the featured entrée at a lû‘au

kama‘ āina native, literally “child of the land”

kanaka human being, man, person

kānaka human beings, men, persons

kâne male, man, husband, used to indicate a public men’s restroom

kapu taboo, forbidden, sacred, keep out if it appears on a sign

keiki child, children

koa a type of hardwood

kōkua to help, assist

kona leeward or a leeward wind

kukui candlenut tree

kula plain, upland

ku‘u ipo my sweetheart

lae point (geographic feature)

lānai porch, terrace, balcony

lani heavenly

lei garland of flowers

liliko‘i passion fruit

limu seaweed

lomilomi salt salmon minced with onion and tomato

lū‘au traditional feast

mahalo thanks, to thank, admiration

makai toward the sea (used when giving directions)

mahimahi dolphin fish (not a dolphin!)

mai‘a banana

maika‘i good, fine, beautiful

maka‘āinana public, common people, citizen

malihini newcomer, visitor, tourist

mana supernat ural power

manō shark

mauka inland (used when giving directions)

mauna mountain

mele song

Mele Kalikamaka Merry Christmas

moana open sea, ocean

moku island

mu‘umu‘u long loose-fitting dress introduced by the missionaries

nā the (plural), by, for

nani pretty

nēnē Hawaiian goose

niu coconut

nui big, large, important, many, much

‘ohana family including extended family

‘ono delicious

pāhoehoe smooth and ropey lava, accepted as the correct geological term

pakalōlō marijuana, literally “crazy smoke”

pali cliff, precipice

paniolo cowboy

pau finished, completed

poi starchy paste made from taro roots

poke cubed, marinated and spiced raw fish

pono righteous, honest, moral

pua flower

pua‘a pig

puna spring, creek

pūpū hors d’oeuvre

pu‘u hill

‘ukulele small stringed instrument

wa‘a canoe

wahine woman, wife, female, Mrs., used to indicate a public women’s restroom

wāhine women

wai fresh water

wailele waterfall

wikiwiki very quick, in a hurry

Meanings of Kaua‘i Place Names

‘Aliomanu scar made by birds

‘Ele‘ele black

Hā‘ena red hot

Ha‘ikū haughty, to speak abruptly

Hanakāpī‘ai bay sprinkling food

Hanakoa bay of warriors

Hanalei crescent bay

Hanamā‘ tired bay

Hanapēpē crushed bay

Honopū conch bay

Kāhili feather standard

Kalāheo proud day

Kalalau the wanderer

Kalapakī double-yoked egg

Kalihiwai water's edge

Kapa‘a solid

Keālia salt land

Kekaha dry hot place

Kīlauea spewing of many vapors

Kilohana beautiful view

Kīpū to remain as mist or rain

Kīpūkai Kīpū at the sea

Kōloa tall sugarcane or a native Hawaiian duck

Līhu‘e goose flesh

Limahuli turning hand

Makana gift

Moloa‘a tangled roots

Miloli‘i fine twist

Nā Pali the cliffs

Nāwiliwili grove of wiliwili trees, a member of the legume family

Nu‘alolo brains heaped up

Olokele former name of the ‘i‘iwi or Kaua‘i honeycreeper

Pāpa‘a secure enclosure

Polihale house blossom

Puhi eel, set on fire

Waiakalua water of the pit

Wai‘ale‘ale rippling water

Waikea white water

Wailua two waters, spirit of a ghost

Waimea red water

Wainiha hostile waters

Wai‘oli joyful water

Waipouli dark water

Pidgin

Pidgin is the spicy Creole tongue that borrows from other languages. Hawaiian pidgin
has roots in the plantation days of the 19th century when European and American owners
had to communicate with recently arrived Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese laborers.
It was designed as a simple language, born of necessity and stripped of dispensable
words.

Modern pidgin is a vernacular of mainly Hawaiian and English-derived words with a
unique syntax and a rising inflection that can change the meaning of what it being
said. It is a colorful, ever-changing dialect as regionally distinct as the speech
of Louisiana Cajuns. No longer plantation talk, pidgin is learned at school and
on the streets.

Hip young locals are the main pidgin speakers. They choose to speak pidgin as a
private “in” language and are perfectly capable of speaking English. Whole conversations
can take place in pidgin or one or two words can be dropped into conventional English.
You might not be able to understand what the locals are saying in pidgin, but you
should get a sense of what is being meant. Pidgin is the mark of the local; newcomers
shouldn’t attempt to speak it. You won’t sound cool–just stupid.

A Sampling of Hawaiian Pidgin

an den? then what?

any kine anything

ass right that’s right, you’re correct

beef fight

brah/bruddah friend, brother

broke da mout delicious tasting

buggah guy or thing that is a pest

bumbye later on, after a while

chicken skin bumps on your skin when you get the chills, goose bumps

cockaroach steal

da kine used as filler when the speaker can’t think of the right word to use